The Industrial Property Act, 2001
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(2) For the purposes of this Act, everything made available to the public
anywhere in the world by means of written disclosure (including drawings
and other illustrations) or, by oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other nonwritten means shall be considered prior art:
Provided that such disclosure occurred before the date of filing of the
application or, if priority is claimed, before the priority date validly claimed
in respect thereof.
(3) For the purpose of the evaluation of novelty, an application for the grant
of a patent or a utility model certificate in Kenya shall be considered to have
been comprised in the prior art as from the filing date of the application, or if
priority is claimed, as from the date of its validly claimed priority, to the
extent to which its content is available, or is later made available, to the
public in accordance with this Act or in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2), a disclosure of the invention shall not
be taken into consideration if it occurred not earlier than twelve months
before the filing date or, where applicable, the priority date of t he application
and if it was by reason or in consequence of: (a) acts committed by the applicant or his predecessor in title; or
(b) an evident abuse committed by a third party in relation to the
applicant or his predecessor in title.
Inventive step
24.An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having
regard to the prior art relevant to the application claiming the invention, it
would not have been obvious to a person skilled in the art to which the
invention pertains on the date of the filing of the application or, if priority is
claimed, on the priority date validly claimed in respect thereof.
Industrial
application
25. An invention shall be considered industrially applicable if, according
its nature, it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including
agriculture, medicine, fishery and other services.
Non-patentable
inventions
26.The following shall not be patentable: -
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(a) plant varieties as provided for in the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, but
not parts thereof or products of biotechnological process; and
to
(b) inventions contrary to public order, morality, public health and safety,
principles of humanity and environmental conservation.
Information
prejudicial to
defence of Kenya
or safety of
public
27. (1) Where an application for a patent is filed with the Institute under this
Act or under any international convention to which Kenya is a party, and it
appears to the Managing Director that the application contains information
of a description notified to him by the Minister responsible for defence or
the concerned Minister as being information the publication of which might